Aftermath of Dementors
by carabc03
Summary: After Harry saves Dudley from the Dementors, Dudley suddenly realizes that maybe magic isn't so bad. This leads to some questions, and to some revelations that lead to Harry being saved from the Dursleys. (Or the one where Dudley is actually a decent human who was just brainwashed by his parents into certain beliefs, and Vernon Dursley is evil) Set in OOTP T for language abuse
1. Chapter 1

Harry looks up from where he's sitting on the swings to notice Dudley and his minions approaching. They're laughing about something. _Probably mugged a kid, or perhaps killed a puppy_ , Harry muses mentally. "Hey, Big D."

The smirk on Dudley's face pulls down into an angry scowl as he hears his cousin's sarcastic greeting.

"Beat up another ten year old?" Harry asks conversationally.

"This one deserved it," Dudley spits. His cronies let out a chorus of agreements behind him.

"Five against one. Very brave," Harry comments.

"Well, you're one to talk!" Dudley says, stepping forward menacingly. "Moaning in your sleep every night? At least I'm not afraid of my pillow!"

Harry freezes.

"'Don't kill Cedric!'" Dudley mocks, repeating what Harry so often whimpers in his nightmares. "Who's Cedric, your boyfriend?"

"Shut up," Harry orders sharply, fighting to control his anger.

"'He's going to kill me, mum!'" Dudley continues jeering, ignoring the warning. Then he looks directly at his cousin. "Where is your mum? Where's your mum, Potter?"

Harry's blood is boiling. He didn't think even Dudley would sink this low. The bully himself looks a little shocked by his own words. "Don't talk about her. Or Cedric."

Whatever hint of remorse Dudley might have shown is instantly wiped away. Harry's words sets the gang off again, their laughter growing louder. "Is he actually your boyfriend, Potter?" Dudley crows.

"No," Harry tells him. "He was my friend."

Dudley looks faintly surprised at the use of the past tense- clearly he had assumed the dreams were fiction, and Cedric hadn't actually died. "Was?"

"Yes," Harry snaps, "was. And I say that because he was killed in front of me. By the same guy who killed my parents, in fact." He isn't sure why he's saying all this, but he supposes it doesn't really matter- Dudley'll taunt him no matter what he says, and his friends will just think he's talking out of his arse.

As expected, the goons start laughing even harder. Dudley doesn't, though. He looks confused, and there's something else there, too.

Harry shakes his head. "Just get away from me." As he begins to walk away, the sky suddenly darkens. The wind picks up, and everything is coated in a menacing blue light.

The strange expression stays on Dudley's face, even as his friends panic and scatter. "What are you doing?"

"I'm not doing anything!" Harry shouts, equally confused by the sudden change. Debris is starting to fly through the air, whipping around in the wind. He wonders briefly if it's a tornado, but surely natural weather doesn't become disastrous so quickly.

The two begin to run, Harry in the lead as his huge cousin struggles to keep up. The dark clouds seem to be chasing them.

They manage to take shelter in an abandoned tunnel. Harry is filled with a sense of dread when he notices the lights flickering. Something is wrong.

Just as this occurs to him, a huge black figure swoops out of nowhere. Harry barely has time to recognize it as a Dementor before it's pinning him to the wall by his throat. He struggles to catch his breath enough to choke out, "Dudley- run!"

After a slight hesitation, his cousin obeys, but within seconds his feet are swept out from under him by an invisible force. Another Dementor glides in, hovering over the trembling Muggle.

Harry struggles against the blackness that begins to cloud his vision as the Dementor starts its attack. He fights to overpower the screams of his parents, the vacant stare on Cedric's face as he lay dead, the indescribable pain of the Cruciatus-

He manages to get his wand out and immediately hits the Dementor with it as hard as he can. It's enough that the cloaked figure is jolted backwards and away from him, and that's all he needs.

" _Expecto patronum_!" Harry cries, and immediately brilliant white light floods out of his wand and casts the Dementor away.

He turns to see that his cousin is still pinned down and turns his patronus around to fight his Dementor off as well.

Harry casts a wary eye over Dudley's sweaty, trembling body, still lying on the dirty cement floor. _This will be hard to explain to Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon…_

Dudley is conscious, but too dazed to move.

With a sigh, Harry picks up Dudley's feet and begins to walk, dragging his enormous cousin behind him. There's no way he can carry him, so this is the best he can do.

After about half an hour of this method of transportation, Dudley finally comes to enough to snap that he can walk himself, and then proceed to lean heavily on Harry the whole way home.

"My little Duddykins!" Petunia shrieks when she sees them making their way up the driveway. She runs over and pulls her son into a hug, scowling at Harry over his shoulder.

"What's he done to you, sweetums?" She leads them inside, immediately getting Dudley a blanket and setting to work on making hot chocolate for him while cooing random words of comfort here and there.

Once Dudley has been properly fretted over, Petunia starts to ask about what happened.

Dudley, who is still in a mild state of shock, can't quite seem to find the words. He just throws random phrases together in no particular method or order. "Cloak… monsters… Harry… spell…"

"Harry cast a spell on you? He summoned monsters?!" Petunia cries in horror.

At that precise moment, Uncle Vernon walks in the front door, and Harry decides that if any type of god exists it must really want him dead.

"YOU WHAT?!" He roars, immediately turning a multitude of colors, ranging from vivid purple to the grey of week old porridge.

"I didn't-" Harry begins, but is cut off before he can get more than a few words out.

"WE TOOK YOU IN OUT OF THE GOODNESS OF OUR HEARTS AFTER YOUR WORTHLESS PARENTS GOT THEMSELVES KILLED, AND YOU GO AND DO THIS TO OUR PRECIOUS SON? YOU DISGRACE! YOU'LL BE OUT OF THIS HOUSE BEFORE MORNING!" Vernon bellows.

"How dare you!" Petunia picks up where Vernon left off, continuing to shriek at Harry. "I always knew you were a freak, but this is worse than I ever could have dreamed! We gave you our son's clothes! We let you eat our food! How dare you be so ungrateful as to contaminate our household! How could you-"

"He saved me," Dudley speaks up finally, his voice hollow and his expression still stunned.

"What?" Aunt Petunia gasps, clutching her chest.

"Did you mess with his mind?" Uncle Vernon roars, his face bright red as he looms over Harry's small body. "Did you use that freakishness on my son? Answer me, boy!"

"No!" Harry cries. "I'm not allowed to use magic outside of school, remember?" He ignores the way his uncle flinches at 'the m word'. "I'd be expelled!"

"Well, you summoned the- the monsters that attacked my Dudders! You were going to be expelled anyway, so you changed his memory of it!" Vernon concludes, rage about the magic and smugness over having figured out Harry's master plan warring for dominance in his eyes.

"He was attacked too, Dad," Dudley puts in hoarsely.

Vernon scoffs. "A likely story!"

"No, it's true!" Harry says desperately, overcoming his shock at Dudley's support in order to defend himself. "It left bruises on my neck, see!" He tilts his head up so that the marks left from being choked are more visible.

Petunia appears somewhat unsure now, but Uncle Vernon just looks even angrier.

"You did that to yourself, no doubt!"

" _What_?!" Harry might have found the idiotic logic funny if he weren't so scared.

"You're upsetting Duddykins!" Petunia frets.

"Just go to your room, boy," Uncle Vernon growls. "We'll finish this later."

Harry doesn't need to be told twice. He jumps at the opportunity to escape the conversation and runs up the stairs, the sound of his aunt fussing over Dudley eventually fading when he closes his door.


	2. Chapter 2

He lies down and closes his eyes. He's still exhausted from the attack- Dementors always leave him feeling drained, not to mention casting the Patronus Charm and having to use it on not one but two Dementors.

 _Maybe I should've just let the Dementor get Dudley, he thinks bitterly_. But he knows he would never do something like that to his cousin. He's a prat, but he doesn't deserve to get his soul sucked out.

Harry considers getting some sleep- his aunt and uncle will most likely kick him out after this stunt, and he doesn't know how long it will be before he can rest on an actual bed again- but he knows he would undoubtedly have another nightmare. Merlin knows the last thing he needs is to make Uncle Vernon even angrier by screaming in his sleep.

He hears footsteps walking heavily up the stairs and groans quietly. Uncle Vernon is probably coming to finish their earlier argument.

Harry freezes when he hears a knock at his door. His relatives never knock.

"Oi, Potter, open up," Dudley demands, his voice muffled through the wood.

 _Oh, goody, he's back to his usual charming self,_ Harry thinks wryly.

The banging on his door becomes more insistent.

"Dudley, I don't have a lock," Harry reminds him tiredly. "You can just come in."

Dudley enters, shifting his weight awkwardly. He looks a bit pale, but he seems to be recovered from the Dementors for the most part.

"Do you need something?" Harry asks, trying not to sound rude. He knows saying one wrong word will set his relatives on him again, and if he has to live on the streets, he'd prefer to do it bruise-free.

He knows Dudley might have just defended Harry to his parents because out of fear that now he was presumably expelled, he wouldn't hold back his magic, and therefore wanted to stay on his good side.

"Yeah, I just wanted to…" Dudley trails off, looking immensely uncomfortable.

Harry sighs. "I didn't summon the Dem- the things that attacked us, I swear." He knows Dudley doesn't know what the Dementors are called, and wouldn't want to learn anything associated with the wizarding world, so he doesn't name them.

"Yeah, I know, that," Dudley scoffs. "I seriously doubt you would summon something that would strangle you, and besides, you used illegal magic just to send it away. Even you're not that stupid."

"Um, thanks?" Harry says carefully.

Dudley continues to look awkward.

"Seriously, can I help you with something?"

"What I said earlier. About your mum. I shouldn't've- That was messed up, I mean," Dudley says in a quiet voice.

"Yes, it was," Harry agrees evenly. He knows he should just thank him and end it there, but it's true. Dudley had gone too far. Harry can take a lot of insults, but going after his mom and Cedric was like a punch to the gut, and he doesn't want to forgive and forget so quickly.

"What I'm trying to say is- well, I- I'm sorry," Dudley gets out, and his face is contorted as though the apology physically hurts him. Which, knowing Dudley, it probably does.

"Oh," Harry says, unsure of how to respond. "Thanks, I guess."

"And what I said about Cedric, that wasn't- I didn't know. I thought it was just a dream, I didn't know he was actually dead."

"Well, he is," Harry says grimly. "Like I told you earlier, it was the same wizard who killed my parents."

"What's his name?"

"Voldemort, but most people don't like to say his name. Pretty much everyone except my headmaster and I call him He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named, You-Know-Who, The Dark Lord, things like that," Harry tells him.

"They call him that?" Dudley asks, looking shocked. "Why?"

"He's evil," Harry says mildly. "People are scared."

"But still," Dudley argues, "is he really that bad that they can't even say his name?"

Harry clenches his fists. "He killed my parents."

Dudley seems to realize he's hit a nerve, and holds his hands up defensively. "I know, I'm not trying to- I guess what I'm saying is, people get killed all the time, but we still don't treat serial killers' names like curses. Not even the really bad ones, you know, Jack the Ripper and the like."

Harry is suddenly furious at his parents being lumped into the category of 'just some people'. He wants to scream that they were more than names, more than statistics, more than some sad, hopeless victims. But he knows that's not fair. Dudley's making an effort, and as weird as it is, Harry should too.

"So?" Dudley prompts impatiently after Harry remains silent too long. "Why can't you say his name?"

Harry runs a hand through his wild black hair. "I don't think I'm explaining this right. He's not _just_ a serial killer, Dudley. He's the worst of the worst."

"Yeah, but-"

"No, you don't get it. He's powerful, and ruthless, and immortal. Or at least, on his way to immortality, if he hasn't gotten there yet."

"How- how powerful is he?" Dudley squeaks.

"Very," Harry says simply. "But still, even though he's got all that power and he's willing to use the Unforgivables, he would have been taken down easily if he were alone. But Dudley, he has an _army_. A whole legion of the worst kinds of wizards and witches, all doing his dirty work, killing people like my parents. They're called Death Eaters, and there are loads of them. That's what makes Voldemort so dangerous."

"What are the Unforgivables?" Dudley asks in a shaking voice.

"Oh, right, I forgot you didn't know about those. They're the curses that no one is allowed to use, no matter what. Things like the Killing Curse- that's how he killed my parents, and how I got this scar- the Cruciatus, which is used to torture, and is not a lot of fun, by the way, and the Imperius, which makes people have to do whatever you say. Just dangerous things like that- spells that can't possibly be used for good."

"Does the killing curse not always work, then?" Dudley asks with a frown. "I mean, if you survived?"

"I'm the only person who ever has, and the scar still affects me to this day," Harry says solemnly.

"Wait- so you've gotten the torture one?"

"The Cruciatus, and yes. After Voldemort killed Cedric, he decided to torture me a bit. Just for laughs," Harry spits bitterly.

"Oh," Dudley says in a small voice. "I guess I can understand why people don't want to say his name, then."

"Yeah," Harry mutters.

"I didn't know wizards had spells they can't use," Dudley says, changing the subject a bit.

"Of course we do!" Harry says, somewhat affronted. "What, did you think we were just allowed free reign to go around cursing people as we please?"

Dudley bristles in irritation. "Well, how should I know your fancy magic rules?" He snaps defensively.

"Okay, you're right, I shouldn't have expected you to know," Harry admits, raising his hands in surrender.

"So, what happens if you use one of the Unforgivables?"

"Well, mostly you get sent to Azkaban, which is the worst wizarding prison in the world. The guards are Dementors- those are the things that attacked us- and they do to their prisoners what they did to us, except a thousand times worse, every day. If you do something really awful, you get the Dementor's Kiss, which basically means you get your soul sucked out. Not very pleasant, that."

Dudley takes all this in with wide eyes, but frowns slightly when the explanation is done. "Is that what he was doing to us? Trying to suck our souls out?"

Harry struggles to explain. "Not exactly. Dementors feed on human happiness, so when they get close to you, they suck all of your happiness out, and they essentially show you your worst memories. It's awful."

"So do the Dementors show you Cedric, then?" Dudley asks cautiously.

Harry shrugs. "Among other things."

Dudley seems to be awaiting more information, but none is forthcoming. After a moment of silence, he prods, "what other things?"

Harry turns to look at his cousin. He searches his face, not quite sure what he's looking for but desperately hoping he finds it. He finds no trace of malice, and he supposes that's enough. "I see my parents dying. And I hear Voldemort laughing as he kills them."

"You can remember that?" Dudley asks, aghast.

"Sort of," Harry says, squinting. "I can remember bits and pieces. Like the bright green light of the killing curse, and my parents screaming. I can hear their last words."

"What do they say?" Dudley asks, his tone more serious than Harry's ever heard him.

"My dad says ' _Lily, take Harry and go! It's him! Go! Run! I'll hold him off-_ '" Harry says, hoping fiercely that Dudley ignores the way his voice breaks and the tears shining in his eyes. "He didn't even have a wand, he was just trying to save my mom and me."

"Wow," Dudley says simply, eyes wide. "Do you- can you hear your mom, too?"

Harry nods. "She says, ' _Not Harry, not Harry, please not Harry!_ ' And then Voldemort says, ' _Stand aside, you silly girl... stand aside, now…_ ' and then she says, ' _Not Harry, please, no, take me, kill me instead- Not Harry! Please... have mercy... have mercy…_ ' and then-" This time Harry has to look away, wiping his eyes and keeping them cast down. "And then there's just a lot of screaming."

"I'm sorry," Dudley says earnestly, and Harry is so shocked that he can do nothing but nod.

After a moment, Harry hesitantly begins to speak. "What… what did the Dementors make you see?"

"Remember that time when your wizard friend gave me a piece of candy and it made my tongue all huge and swollen?"

Harry frowns. "That's what you saw? Was it that bad?"

"Well, it made it kind of hard to breathe, and I started panicking. I was worried I was gonna choke to death on my own tongue and Mum and Dad weren't gonna let that older wizard fix it just 'cause of how they feel about your kind. It was just… I don't know. It made me wonder if they hate magic more than they love me."

"I never thought of it that way. Sorry, Dudley. I didn't know you were actually that scared."

"I mean, I can see why you wouldn't think of it as a big deal. You've been tortured and watched people die and my worst memory is a bit of candy," Dudley says, sounding a little ashamed.

"It's not a competition," Harry points out gently.

Dudley shrugs. "Still."

Neither of them say anything for some time, giving Harry time to reflect on how odd all of this is. _Maybe he's grateful I saved him_ , Harry thinks. A few hours ago he wouldn't have even been able to think that without laughing, but now it seems like a very real possibility.

"Harry?" Dudley begins hesitantly, breaking the silence. "Do you ever- do you ever see me when a Dementor is attacking you?"

"No. I do see Uncle Vernon sometimes, though. Before I found out about Hogwarts, he used to get- erm- a bit more… physical, than he does now," Harry explains.

"He hit you?" Dudley seems genuinely shocked.

"It wasn't a big deal," Harry says, frowning. He didn't really think Dudley would care- in fact, he had kind of assumed his cousin already knew. "It wasn't that often, most of the time when he was mad he just sent me to my cupboard, and I didn't mind that so much after a while. Plus he almost never does anymore, although I expect tonight will be an exception after what happened."

Dudley looks sickened, and Harry is suddenly unreasonably angry that he has the gall to look so horrified when he spent most of his childhood thinking up new and inventive ways to torture Harry.

"Why are you so surprised?" Harry snaps. "It's not like you were so wonderful to me, either. Remember Harry hunting? Remember blaming things on me all the time, even though you knew you wouldn't have gotten in trouble for them anyway? Remember stealing my food? Remember helping your parents come up with ridiculous punishments for me?" He's raising his voice now. "Any of that ring a bell?"

"It's not the same!" Dudley explodes. "Yeah, I was an arse, and I know that, but I was a kid! I was a dumb, spoiled kid who was told my whole life that you were a freak and you wanted to hurt me! What did you expect? My parents brought me up on the idea that you were a monster, was I just supposed to magically have a moral code that told me they were wrong?"

Harry pauses. He had never thought of that.

"Harry, my parents, they- they _abused_ you."

This brings Harry out of his shock, and he shakes his head vehemently. "No, they didn't. I mean, they weren't exactly nice to me, but it was never abuse. I was fine."

"So what do you call it when adults call their kid names and make them do all the housework and punish them for nothing and don't feed them or buy them clothes and- God, they _hit_ you! Do you realize that?"

"Of course I realize that!" Harry shouts. "You're the one that just found out! I had to live with it my whole life!"

"THAT'S MY POINT!" Dudley bellows even louder. Then his voice becomes quieter; he sounds almost ashamed. "You shouldn't have had to."

At that moment, Uncle Vernon comes bursting in, summoned by the loud voices. "You!" He snarls at Harry, his face red and furious.


End file.
